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Read the press release here.

Jackson Heights-Corona Bid Proposal Shortened by 10 Blocks

By Katie Honan | October 4, 2013 5:49pm
 The new proposal shortens the length — and the budget — for the BID.
The new proposal shortens the length — and the budget — for the BID.
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82nd Street Partnership

JACKSON HEIGHTS — A business improvement district proposed for Jackson Heights and Corona has been cut by half a mile, and it's budget nearly halved after the community weighed in on the plan.

The Jackson Heights-Corona BID will be shortened by 10 blocks, ending at Roosevelt Avenue and 104th Street, the 82nd Street Partnership director, Seth Taylor, said Friday.

The new budget for the BID will also be smaller, totalling an estimated $860,000 — which is less than the estimated cost of over $1 million.

The original proposal for the BID extended to 114th Street, and also included commercial stretches along National Street and Junction Boulevard.

The boundaries were changed after receiving “numerous comments and feedback from the community,” according to Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, whose office has been involved in the planning of the business improvement district.

Ferreras said the majority of quality of life issues, including lack of sanitation, crime, graffiti and poor lighting, occur on Roosevelt Avenue between 82nd Street and 104th Street.

She also cited the city’s proposal to re-zone 14 blocks of Roosevelt Avenue on the eastern end of the proposed BID — part of the city's East Elmhurst rezoning project — as a reason to change the boundaries, saying they will be altered to “accurately reflect the current community layout.”

Taylor said it “makes more sense” to end the boundaries at 104th Street.

It reduces the budget and makes a “more affordable and more manageable” business improvement district.

The business improvement district plan has been criticized by some immigrant business owners who fear they'll be pushed out of the neighborhood.

The newly-formed Roosevelt Avenue Community Alliance rallied last month against the BID, saying it will replace family-owned immigrant businesses with large chains that can afford the fees used to provide services.

But the 82nd Street Partnership said the cost for businesses will be small — about the cost of a coffee and empanada a day, they said.